Winners and Losers in Tennis of the Post-Wimbledon Week

A week after 2015 Wimbledon, and professional tennis seems quiet along the surface. Looking within, there are numerous interesting stories as late July turns out a few mid-major tournaments and Davis Cup quarterfinals action.

We're going to begin and end with Novak Djokovic commentaries, but there is also news about Serena Williams, Andy Murray's coach Amelie Mauresmo and Lleyton Hewitt's heroics for Australia.

Our most insignificant tennis piece looks at the new colors that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will wear for the summer hard-court season in North America. Who wins that one?

Plenty of tennis talk and more in our smorgasbord of "Winners and Losers," where we look at the triumphant and disappointing moments in a week of tennis.

Winner: Novak Djokovic Does Not Play Davis Cup This Week

Darko Vojinovic/Associated Press

Novak Djokovic, fresh off his Wimbledon title, did not play Davis Cup for Serbia.

This is a great decision.

Djokovic has proudly represented his country for many years, leading them to the 2010 Davis Cup title and participating despite his crowded schedule and demands as the top player.

In 2013, for instance, Djokovic injured his ankle against the U.S. in early April, putting his clay-court season in jeopardy. He rebounded quickly to win Monte Carlo, but the wear, tear and risk in playing exhausting and emotional matches can only potentially hinder his singles career.

The best thing Djokovic can do is invest all of his energy and time off to extend his dominance as the best player in the world. The clock is always ticking and one day he will want to look back and know that he maximized his efforts to achieve everything he could with his legacy.

Meanwhile, Serbia was beaten soundly by Argentina in its first three matches.

Loser: Serena Williams' Elbow Injury

Adam Ihse/Associated Press

Maybe the only thing that can stop Serena Williams is an injury. The American superstar, practicing in Sweden a few days after her Wimbledon title, announced she was withdrawing, according to her interview with tournament organizers, via ESPN: "I was having some pain in my elbow, and I felt a little bit in my match. But [Thursday] morning it really exploded [in practice] ... I really couldn't hit serves."

Serena, like Djokovic, must be concerned first and foremost to preserve her health, strength and energy to pursue more major titles while she still can. It might be best to forego doubles altogether, especially to lessen the risks of further strain through serving, which is one of her greatest weapons.

The elbow is the most important story of the week, not just because of her pursuit of winning a true calendar Grand Slam, but because the entire WTA tour revolves around her successes or setbacks. Fans in Sweden are certainly disappointed, but other mid-majors might also have to accept that Serena may not be as available as she chases history.

Winner: Lleyton Hewitt

Remy de la Mauviniere/Associated Press

Leave it up to Lleyton Hewitt to steal more Davis Cup thunder as his swan song. The feisty veteran, over a decade removed from his time as the ATP No. 1 player, has been through all the wars—including an injury-plagued career—but perhaps nobody better represents the Aussie toughness.

Hewitt won the deciding singles match for Australia to cap off three wins in a row against Kazakhstan after they had dropped the first two matches. Australia now heads to Great Britain to play the semifinals in September.

Hewitt’s heroic finish was a reminder to his early great success in Davis Cup play when he defeated Roger Federer in the 2003 semifinals after trailing two sets.

At the time, Hewitt and Federer were a budding rivalry: the former with two majors and the latter with his first Wimbledon title. Who could have foreseen that the Aussie would dip tremendously as the Swiss rose to his epic prominence.

Funny how a never-so routine combination of Davis Cup and Hewitt can connect to tennis’ rich and divergent stories.

Loser: Are the No. 1 Seeds Paper Tigers?

Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Associated Press

As July slowly recovers from a grand Wimbledon, it’s running through some mid-summer B-side tennis. The superstars are not exactly coming out to play. Here are the No. 1 seeds for three mid-majors:

David Goffin turned around his 2014 a year ago while bigger players rested. He is the favorite at Bastad, Sweden, after the emotional high of leading the Belgians to the Davis Cup semifinals.

Ivo Karlovic just lost a disappointing final at Newport to Rajeev Ram, and now he flies out to Bogota for the bracket’s top billing.

Gael Monfils is the star who will be seeded No. 1 at Umag, Croatia, but it might be equally interesting to watch Dominic Thiem and Borna Coric.

There is bound to be some good tennis, but it is clearly an interim time until the Rogers Cup.

Winner: Garbine Muguruza

Sean Dempsey/Associated Press

Here comes the latest young phenom to crash the WTA top-10 rankings. Last year it was Eugenie Bouchard, but she has since plummeted to No. 26. This time, Garbine Muguruza cashes in on her Wimbledon final to land in at No. 9.

Muguruza is well-versed in the Spanish tradition of excellent groundstrokes, and she blends her topspin with championship-level power. The real question is if she can build on her success in becoming a contender.

Too often, top young players in the WTA make cameo appearances, disappear and reemerge years later as more hardened, second-tier players—perhaps as wiser and better workers but also understanding how difficult it is to be superstars.

The eyes of the tennis world will be watching her.

Loser: Federer-Nadal Update

Andrew Brownbill/Associated Press

You know it's a slow week of summer tennis when the biggest news surrounding superstars Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal is what colors they will be wearing for the summer stretch into the U.S. Open Series.

Tennis World shared a picture of Federer's outfit, a bordeaux-color shirt that looks more like raspberry frozen yogurt to go along with blueberry shorts.

Meanwhile, the picture of Nadal's outfit is another parti-colored shirt, with the shoulders and sleeves sky blue and the rest white. His shorts will match the sky blue, and it has a fairly thin strip of pale green stripes on the sides.

OK, now the world of tennis can move forward once again, and let's hope for future clashes between the two megastars, not just a discussion of their shirts and shorts. But if you cared enough to vote for the better colors, who do you choose?

Winner: Amelie Mauresmo

STEVE HOLLAND/Associated Press

While Andy Murray was leading Great Britain to their Davis Cup quarterfinal victory over France, his coach Amelie Mauresmo received tennis’ highest honor, being named to the Hall of Fame.

In many ways, Mauresmo’s career is similar to Murray’s. She also won two majors (2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon) and was seen as a secondary superstar to players like Serena Williams and Justine Henin. She won 545 matches and 25 titles in 10 years, and Murray has 527 wins and 37 titles in nearly a decade. Mauresmo held the No. 1 ranking for 39 weeks, but Murray has been unable to accomplish this.

They have both had to struggle through a lot of pressure and expectations to win majors because of the talent they have always shown. It took Mauresmo about seven years as a professional player to get her major, and it took Murray about six years. For both players, the second major came less than a year later. Mauresmo never won another, but she’s trying to help steer Murray to major No. 3.

It feels long overdue, but Mauresmo deserves her recognition.

Loser: Old Perceptions About Novak Djokovic

David Goldman/Associated Press

A second take on Novak Djokovic and we make no apologies for this. The best player in the world should get his press, and he’s gotten that over the years, but that doesn’t mean he’s really received his due.

I was rereading a profile on Djokovic called “The Third Man” by Laura Collins for the New Yorker. It’s important to note that this was written in September 2013, with the upcoming U.S. Open to help bring in some eyeballs, but also in the midst of Rafael Nadal’s remarkable comeback and return to the No. 1 ranking.

Collins depicted Djokovic as a disrespectful misfit, a more vulgarized king of tennis. She isolated a few hand-picked anecdotes to form a large portion of her thesis, insinuating this as the public perception of Djokovic at large. She noted that the tennis establishment has had a reluctant, grudging acceptance of his arrival onto the Roger Federer-Nadal super rivalry.

While pieces of this perception are arguable, depending on how fans want to believe, there are plenty of important omissions that neglect his genuine character and competitive greatness.

Two years later this perception has warmed somewhat, like a late frosty morning welcoming the sun. When we talk tennis, Djokovic’s tennis is the conversation, not a quirky depiction of moments that were scattered in some forsaken junkyard.

Whether tennis fans like the way he plays or not, he’s a unique, talented champion who has dedicated himself to becoming the best.